Bitcoin Pizza Day: Tracking BTC’s Value on May 22 Since 2011

Today, May 22, is regarded as Bitcoin Pizza Day in Bitcoin’s history as it commemorates a pivotal moment in the evolution of the premier cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin Pizza Day, observed annually on May 22, marks a significant moment in the history of the premier cryptocurrency. Precisely 14 years ago, Florida-based programmer Laszlo Hanyecz made headlines by exchanging 10,000 BTC tokens for two large pizzas.

Given that Bitcoin was still in its early stages at the time, the value of 10K BTC was negligible. However, in hindsight, those 10,000 BTCs tokens are now worth close to a billion dollars, making Hanyecz's pizza transaction iconic. Moreover, this transaction served as the earliest recorded real-world use of Bitcoin, paving the way for the evolution of Bitcoin payments.

As Bitcoin's price continues to maintain a steady growth year-over-year, the crypto community commemorates the historic exchange every May 22, reflecting on Hanyecz's missed fortune. In light of this, The Crypto Basic has provided an explorative analysis of Bitcoin's value on every Bitcoin pizza day since May 22, 2011.

BTC Price on Bitcoin Pizza Day from 2011

Prominent market tracking platforms, including CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko, have no historical data on Bitcoin’s price as of May 22, 2010, when Hanyecz traded BTC for pizza.

However, CoinMarketCap data indicates that 1 BTC cost as high as $7.57 a year after Hanyecz executed the pizza trade. On May 22, 2011, Bitcoin garnered a trading volume of only $23,811, compared to over $35 billion today. Additionally, Bitcoin’s market capitalization stood at $41,976,091, which pales in comparison to the current valuation of over $1.38 trillion.

By the following year, Bitcoin faced bearish forces, recording a low of $4.37. In the meantime, 2012 was the year the Bitcoin network underwent its first halving cycle. The halving event was pivotal in driving BTC's floor by 2,737% to a high of $124 on Pizza Day 2013.

From that point onward, Bitcoin never returned to sell at a unit value. The premier crypto asset maintained triple-digit values for the next four years.

Price of 10,000 Pizza BTC Hits $704M

On May 22, 2016, the last pizza day when Bitcoin sold with triple digits, 10,000 BTC had a peak market value of $5,253,600. Notably, this year, the Bitcoin network completed its second halving cycle, which again introduced a scarcity factor in BTC’s availability.

By the pizza day of 2020, Bitcoin’s value had expanded by 1,658% from $525 to $9,232. At this point, the 10,000 BTC held a hypothetical market value of approximately $100 million. Just a year later, the value of 10K BTC further exploded to $388.31 million, with Bitcoin’s price at $38K.

Notably, Bitcoin faced setbacks that dragged it back to the $20K price levels on the pizza days of 2022 and 2023. Meanwhile, today, the premier traded as high as $70,448. This puts the value of the 10,000 BTC exchanged for pizza at an astonishing $704,488,500.